[bikeqld] bus racks on buses Christchurch but NOT Brisbane

[Michael Yeates]

Thanks for the info Pete ...

Here is another take ... and there is more on the 
web ... esp the effort by CAN to promote and 
support the initial idea and then the trial ... ;-)

MY.....................

http://business.scoop.co.nz/?p=2717


<http://business.scoop.co.nz/?p=2717>Bike-carrying racks on bus routes expands

9:57 January 30, 2009<http://business.scoop.co.nz/?cat=3>PressRelease
Press Release - Environment Canterbury

Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillors have 
agreed to extending the number of Christchurch 
bus routes which will be able to carry bicycles. 
This will give cyclists the option of cycling one 
way to work or outdoor activities and busing back, or doing 


January 29, 2009

MEDIA STATEMENT

Bike-carrying racks on bus routes expands

Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillors have 
agreed to extending the number of Christchurch 
bus routes which will be able to carry bicycles. 
This will give cyclists the option of cycling one 
way to work or outdoor activities and busing 
back, or doing part of a journey on the bus and part cycling.

Bike racks, which carry two cycles, have been 
successfully trialled on the Lyttelton (number 35 
Heathcote) route since November 2007. “On nearly 
700 occasions over six months, people put their 
bike on the bus to get through the Lyttelton 
tunnel,” said Cr Carole Evans, chair of ECan’s 
public passenger transport committee. “These 
racks have been warmly received by Lyttelton cyclists.”

One Ilam/Mt Pleasant bus, one Northern Star bus 
to Rangiora and Kaiapoi and one Redwood bus also 
had bike racks fitted as part of the trial.

Councillors agreed to renegotiate the Northern 
Star contracts so more of these buses could be 
fitted with bike racks this year also, before the 
contract is up for renewal. Expanding the bike 
racks to other contracts will be considered after 
an evaluation of the current stage one grouping. 
“The second stage, picking up most remaining bus 
routes, could begin in 2010,” Cr Evans said.

The ten services involving hills and/or 
significant distances which will soon be 
retendered and will require bike-carrying racks 
as part of their contracts are to Halswell, 
Kennedy’s Bush, Styx Mill/Westmorland, 
Harewood/Dyers Pass, Bishopdale/Major Aitken, 
Airport/Sumner, Ilam/Mt Pleasant, 
Lyttelton/Rapaki, Riccarton/Heathcote and St 
Albans/Huntsbury. The bike racks would be ready 
for the newly contracted services in November.

Each bus will have a bike-carrying rack on the 
front. The responsibility for loading and 
unloading the bicycles is the cyclist’s. A 
pamphlet with instructions is available at the 
Bus Exchange and on all buses with bike racks.

“The racks integrate public transport with other 
modes of travel and make places like Lyttelton, 
where the road tunnel is the main accessway, more 
cycling-friendly. The more routes which carry the 
racks, the more people have the option of 
combining cycling with bus travel,” Cr Evans 
said. “Bike racks are an important aim of the 
Greater Christchurch Metro Strategy.”

The expanded Metro bus bike rack network is still 
subject to funding approval. Each rack works out 
to around $2000 fitted per bus. The cost per year 
would be $15,000 (or $75,000 in total over five 
years) to the public transport targeted rate, 
which would be included in the proposed Long Term 
Council Community Plan. Funding spent on public 
transport receives a 50% central government subsidy.
ENDS

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